Letting all of you know that I've added more photos at last!
Use the link on the sidebar to get to my Picasa albums. (Oh wait, it doesn't come up as a real link, does it? Well, copy & paste; that'll work.)
The newest albums are 'Building the Studio 2' & 'How Does My Garden Grow'. They're best viewed as a slideshow, so you can read the captions.
More coming soon, so stay tuned!
Aloha!
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Holiday Greetings!
A big Kona storm hit last week with winds gusts up to 70mph! A Kona wind blows from the southwest instead of from the east. This brings a lot of extra-moisture-laden air up from the tropics and also allows the vog from the volcano to settle over Hilo area, except that these winds were blowing way too hard for any settling to occur. We spent much of one night restrapping the canopy over the open part of our roof where the studio addition ties in. Very exciting and more than a little harrowing with lightning flashes and thunder booming all around as well as the big winds! So no more cutting off the roof during the rainy season! Fortunately for us, we didn't have any damage beyond a few smaller branches; not everyone was so lucky. We lost power off and on for a while, and the water system lost their main pump so we didn't have water for a couple days, but everything's back to 'normal' now, with trade wind showers (read: downpours) blowing through, and all utilities working again. Mauna Kea still has a mantle of snow above us all.
We spent yesterday looking for something to use for a focal point inside for the holidays - think 'Christmas plant' rather than 'Christmas tree'. What I had in mind was a decorated palm tree, and there's actually one variety called a Christmas Palm, but it was nowhere to be found. There are plenty of fresh cut Northwest trees shipped across the ocean in container loads, but since we're living in a tropical locale, I wanted something entirely different. Besides, to me a Douglas fir looks so much better when you've been tramping around the woods behind your house for an hour or two, through the snow, looking for that perfect specimen to bring down the hill and into the house. And I'm having a hard time now and then with NOT having all the aforementioned traditional family-oriented holiday activities this year, so there's another reason to do something new this time around. In the end, I chose a huge 4-foot wreath, big enough to hold my ornaments, maybe some lights, and not take up too much space in our cozy little livingroom. I think it's just perfect!
Pahoa puts on a darn good annual Christmas Parade, and we had a blast watching it last weekend, even in the rain (tail end of that storm). There were marching bands, many, many decorated floats from various groups and clubs, bellydancers, pirates, horses & llamas dressed up as camels led by three wise women, all the while being narrated by the funniest emcee talking in pidgin most of the time. Santa arrived on his outrigger canoe! It was great! They passed out bubbles to the crowd beforehand, so we could blow to our favorite parade entries; there was a pretty steady stream blowing the entire time which lent a festive atmosphere to all of downtown Pahoa. Well done!
The Winter Solstice is coming right up. Solstice has always been a pretty big thing with our family. That's when we would have our big holiday gathering with fireworks, family & friends, and a huge bonfire to bring back the sun. Some of our new friends here have invited us to join in their celebration of this ancient winter rite. We're all very glad to have that to look forward to soon!
Here's wishing all my readers a lovely and loving holiday season, whichever way you choose to celebrate it!
Aloha, Liz
We spent yesterday looking for something to use for a focal point inside for the holidays - think 'Christmas plant' rather than 'Christmas tree'. What I had in mind was a decorated palm tree, and there's actually one variety called a Christmas Palm, but it was nowhere to be found. There are plenty of fresh cut Northwest trees shipped across the ocean in container loads, but since we're living in a tropical locale, I wanted something entirely different. Besides, to me a Douglas fir looks so much better when you've been tramping around the woods behind your house for an hour or two, through the snow, looking for that perfect specimen to bring down the hill and into the house. And I'm having a hard time now and then with NOT having all the aforementioned traditional family-oriented holiday activities this year, so there's another reason to do something new this time around. In the end, I chose a huge 4-foot wreath, big enough to hold my ornaments, maybe some lights, and not take up too much space in our cozy little livingroom. I think it's just perfect!
Pahoa puts on a darn good annual Christmas Parade, and we had a blast watching it last weekend, even in the rain (tail end of that storm). There were marching bands, many, many decorated floats from various groups and clubs, bellydancers, pirates, horses & llamas dressed up as camels led by three wise women, all the while being narrated by the funniest emcee talking in pidgin most of the time. Santa arrived on his outrigger canoe! It was great! They passed out bubbles to the crowd beforehand, so we could blow to our favorite parade entries; there was a pretty steady stream blowing the entire time which lent a festive atmosphere to all of downtown Pahoa. Well done!
The Winter Solstice is coming right up. Solstice has always been a pretty big thing with our family. That's when we would have our big holiday gathering with fireworks, family & friends, and a huge bonfire to bring back the sun. Some of our new friends here have invited us to join in their celebration of this ancient winter rite. We're all very glad to have that to look forward to soon!
Here's wishing all my readers a lovely and loving holiday season, whichever way you choose to celebrate it!
Aloha, Liz
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